Previews

MotorStorm: Pacific Rift

We go hands-on with three starting courses from Evolution's racing sequel.

Spiffy:

Solid racing engine; creative environments; promising sequel.

Iffy:

Waiting to play online; some framerate issues; steep learning curve.

We've covered MotorStorm: Pacific Rift a number of times this year, the first at the pre-E3 show that Sony put on in Los Angeles and most recently Games Convention in Leipzig. Each time we've been teased by a handful of tracks and the promise of getting our hands on the online multiplayer portion of the game. The other day we received two Blu-ray ROMs in the mail for preview purposes, and while they feature the same three levels, we enjoyed the opportunity to actually spend more than 15 minutes with the game sans the noise and stress of a big convention atmosphere.

This is a sequel that's trying to improve on its predecessor in pretty much every way. The first thing to note is that the new Pacific island setting is much more grandiose in terms of racing paths and visuals than the mud-splattered courses found in the original game. Thick jungles turn into huge mountains and then drop down onto beachfront stretches. The varied environments really make you sit up and take notice of your surroundings.

But ultimately the racing is what's important here, and so far it seems like Evolution Studios is on track to serve up another deep yet brutally challenging experience similar to that found in MotorStorm. The developer has added a slew of new features including four-player offline splitscreen racing, 16+ multi-route tracks, the ability to generate your own custom-built soundtracks, a new photo mode, and of course the new monster truck vehicle class.

While we've already spent a decent amount of time thrashing through the E3 demo tracks known as Raingod Spire and Cascade Falls, this was the first time since Leipzig that we'd been able to really get to grips with the lava-drenched Wildfire course. As the name suggests, the race takes place in and around an active volcanic section of the island. This means two things. First, you're going to have to hit every single ramp and jump, otherwise you'll land in lava and melt.

Second, your boosting ability gets adversely affected when you drive through unavoidable flaming gates. When your vehicle gets a little toasty, your boost is consumed much faster than normal. Luckily, to combat this, the track houses a few key "pit stop" areas resplendent with heat-cooling sprinkler systems. Navigate successfully through one of these and your boost heat dissipates instantly, enabling you to start afresh and turbo your way to the head of the pack.